The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1887-01-27

Let MIN pursue with all his might;
or else perchance, he'll have to rue,
As did that most unhappy wight
VINO on chaste Dian's beauties gazed-
Acteon-whose untimely fate
AL torn by his own hounds amazed,
Ovid Nasonis doth narrate.
He sailed ont to chase the deer.
And gaily starts with hound and horn,
whose music, sounding shrill and clear
Makes rocks and hills give back the sound
And surely 1t were hard to tell,
which music-that Of horn or hound
sounds blither over rock and fell
Now false morass they swiftly skirt,
Now wind they through the bosky dale
Hunter and hound-alike alert
See startled rise the whirrng quail
Or bittern's fight on sluggish wing
Or frightened hare start into view
And fee like trembling guilty thing,
Tnrough the long grass bedecked with dew
".
AS Thus for hours they onward 90
Their eagerness gets on the wane,
NO signs zee they OF buck or doe
On forest, meadow hill or plain.
Acfeon then begins to tire
The chase for him has lost its cost
he finds he has a strong disire
To stop the hunt lie down and rest
1ndulging this desire for ease,
He casts an anxious glance around,
An1 underneath clump of trees,
Thinks he espies haliing ground.
The pack then ththerward he guides,
AND, az to 1t they make their way,
de quickly in his mind decides,
Ihat here short time they'll delay.
All, rash Act@on I rash and vain
How is it that thou dost forget
Within Diana wide domain
No footstep rude should e'er be set ?
Turn back e'er yet it be too late
These are Diana's hunting grounds
Rush not thus madly on thy fate
Flee oh Act@on, with thy hounds
VII.
No twas lovely, tempting spot,
Where lays fountain cool and clear
Upon the bank a rustic grot-
But bark What sound now meets his ear
Joyous laugh OF sportive maid
. Away all thought of hound or deer!
Restraint is gone Into the glade
He bursts too rashly-vod OF fear.
And seei what's this from fountain out
To farther bank dashes troop
or lovely maids whose startled shout
Betrays the terror of the groupi
One too there is OF higher rank
Seems to hold all in her command
And ranged around her on the bank,
They shield their queen-a loyal band!
TX.
ActROn rooted to the spot
;, Stands as one thunder-truck, spell-bound-
Here is Dianas famous grot-
This her fountainthat her ground,
Here in the cool pelucid wave,
Well guarded by her maidens fair
Her shapely limbs she's wont to lave
Veil may ActRon stand and stare
But not for long! Diana speaks
. Wit With cutting words. like trenchant blade
Dlana's haunts 80 to invade
" Or this adventure wilt thou make
g. boast among thy comrades rudei
Wilt tell to gaping silly rake
How looked the chaste Diana nude -
XII
NAY, do not ehrink--thou needst not cover
- " hat care for mere mOrta.'a woe,
"rll put this boast beyond thy power
"A duty TO myself owe!
ActRon stood az in q dream
-, From time that he her nymphs surprised
When, taking water from the stream,
Sudden, Diana him baptized
Proud Latona's vengeful daughter,
Fierce a lion robbed OF prey,
STOPPING to the limpd water
wKRRtEea%S ea%Se9a e9aR Rdhibs dhibs heaa chs sh9aweR Of hgraHt.
This fearsome shock--these dartng. painsf
What dire forebodings, numb and chill,
Freeze up the life-blood in his veinsf
Ceased her fierce denuncia ciaton,
Ger him is the water flung,
On him comes strange transformations
Out OF his forehead antlere sprung
His neck il long -hoofs are his feet,
Legs are his arms-hOofs too his hands
Act~On in form OF stag complete,
Bewdered and distressed now stands
XIV.
Although like beaet then he appear
And form be changed, still sense remains,
His punishment g thus more severe
Tenfold more bitter are his pains.
Where can he now q shelter gain :?
Ever he must the forest roam.
For sense of shame doth him restrain
From taking refuge in his home
XIV.
But now he stands in fearful danger
For see! his hounds-his famous pack
Black foot. kill-deer Keen-sght, Ranger
Glare on him, ready to attack
In terror, woe, and wild despair,
His cries OF misery and fear
Which rcnd the stiffness of the air
Have neither voice of man nor deer
XVI.
That cry OF anguish breaks the spell,
Its sound Act:eon's fate decides
His dogs rush on with savage yell,
And lacerate his painting sides.
His sObbing throat with fatal fans
They pierce-Ahl what a cruel fate
Act@On by such death and pangs
His rashness 80 doth expiate
XVII
Does naught of mercy or Of ruth
Find place In Dian as she stands
And sees the miserable youth
Thus done to death through her commanded
Oh no, in those go euper-chaete,
In their own eyes immaculate,
Mercy, see, is eeldom placed
Young men beware Actions fate.
J. WEIR INsLIs.
TALLAHAssEB, January, 1887.